HC dismisses plea to disqualify arrested AAP Minister Satyendar Jain

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to declare AAP leader Satyendar Jain, arrested in a money laundering case, as a “person with unsound mind” and disqualify him from being a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) here and a minister.

A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said the court, based on averments in a writ petition, cannot declare Jain as a “person with unsound mind” and disqualify him from the Cabinet and the Assembly.

The bench noted that the MLA is facing prosecution for various offences and the Code of Criminal Procedure– which deals with investigation, inquiry and trial– caters to all contingencies and it is for the prosecution/court to take appropriate steps in accordance with law.

“It is true that cases have been registered against respondent No.5 (Jain) and respondent No.5 is facing prosecution for various offences under the Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Corruption Act as well as Prevention of Money Laundering Act. However, the fact remains that the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is a complete code in itself which provides a mechanism in respect of investigation, inquiry and trial. The Code of Criminal Procedure caters to all contingencies and it is for the prosecution/court to take appropriate steps in accordance with law,” the court said in its order dated August 16. “This Court, based upon the averments made in the writ petition, in exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India cannot declare the respondent No.5 (Jain) as a person with unsound mind and cannot disqualify him from being a member of the Legislative Assembly or the Minister in the Government of NCT of Delhi in the facts and circumstances of the case. Resultantly, the writ petition is dismissed,” said the court.

The petitioner, Ashish Kumar Srivastava, claimed in his plea that Jain has “himself declared that he lost his memory” before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and informed the same to the trial court as well and therefore cannot be permitted to continue as a lawmaker.

He asserted that in light of Article 191 (1)(b) of the Constitution, which mandates that an MLA has to be disqualified if he is of “unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court”, Jain cannot continue holding the important portfolio of a Delhi Cabinet Minister and enjoying the post of an MLA.

The plea, filed through lawyer Rudra Vikram Singh, the petitioner claimed that “the news of losing the memory is covered by all media sources and it is very much in the public domain”.

“Continuing an unsound person with so many important portfolios of the Government is cheating the voters of Delhi, who have elected a person with clean image and good mental health… Respondent No 5 (Jain) is holding an important portfolio in Government and because of his mental illness/unsound mind/memory loss the public of the NCT of Delhi will suffer a lot,” the petition said.

Jain was arrested on May 30 by ED under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is presently in judicial custody.

Last month, the high court had dismissed a plea to suspend Jain from the Cabinet following his arrest in the money laundering case, saying it is for the chief minister to consider whether a person with a criminal background should be allowed to continue as a minister or not.